Bound by Fate

Relying On Your (Awkward) Instincts...

An hour later, Shizuo was standing at a fountain, watching the water dance in an attempt to keep his nerves from fraying completely. He took a deep breath and tried to convince himself that there was nothing to be worried about. He almost believed himself when the water stopped its spray and fell unceremoniously back to the earth. Shizuo's breath caught in his throat when he met a pair of piercing crimson eyes gazing thoughtfully at him from the other side of the fountain.

Izaya waved cutely before starting to walk around the edge of the pool. Shizuo's eyes stayed on the other man's entrancing figure as he hurried to meet him in the middle. "Hi," the blonde said with a lopsided grin when they came face-to-face, stopping an arm's length apart.

The flirty brunette tilted his head to the side and looked Shizuo up and down before meeting his eyes. "You look different when you're not wearing your uniform," Izaya said, noticing the way Shizuo's t-shirt pulled across his chest, giving him an teasing idea of what the blonde would look like shirtless. Izaya shivered at the thought before biting at his lower lip. "Though you still have your sunglasses on. Interesting."

"Why is that interesting?" Shizuo asked, raising a curious eyebrow.

"Well, they don't seem like they're prescription so... it's interesting in the way that it makes me wonder why you wear them." Izaya paused to lean into Shizuo, trying to get a peek behind the shades. "I bet your eyes are mesmerizing when you don't hide them."

"That's quite a compliment coming from you," Shizuo admitted as he seemed to fall into Izaya's crimson gaze. "Your eyes are... otherworldly."

"Why thank you, Shizu-chan," Izaya said with a smirk before he spun away to walk farther into the park. He glanced over his shoulder and held up his index finger to gesture for Shizuo to follow him.

Shizuo quickly caught up to Izaya as he sat down on a cement wall separating the grassy incline from a paved area littered with benches and other seating. The brunette motioned for Shizuo to join him and when the blonde sat carefully next to him, Izaya spun around and pulled a leg up to face the bartender, sliding close enough that his folded leg lay flush up against Shizuo's outer thigh. Shizuo took a sharp intake of breath at the contact, once again realizing just how not scared of him Izaya was.

"Shizu-chaaan," Izaya said in a singsong voice as he leaned in to the blonde to snap him out of his thoughts. "Tell me why you insist on wearing these sunglasses." He demanded rather than asking as he boldly reached forward to pluck the blue shades off the blonde's face.

"Hey!" Shizuo exclaimed as he reached forward to try and snatch the sunglasses back but only seemed to get himself into an awkward position as Izaya leaned backward with a mischievous smirk. Before he knew what was happening, Shizuo found himself practically on top of Izaya as he was trying to reach the shades that the playful brunette kept just out of reach.

As soon as he noticed the compromising position he had gotten them in, Shizuo panicked and gracelessly fell off the side of the cement wall. Izaya sat up and crossed his legs under himself as he leaned over the edge to look down at Shizuo sprawled out on the ground before throwing his head back and laughing loudly. "It should be illegal to be that adorably awkward," Izaya forced out as he tried to rein in his uncontrollable giggles.

Shizuo quickly pulled himself up off the ground and brushed himself off petulantly before holding out an upturned palm. Izaya glanced down at the hand before looking up at Shizuo, raising an amused eyebrow. "What?"

"Can I please have them back?" the blonde asked quietly.

"It depends. Why do you wear them?" Izaya shot back without hesitation, unfazed by what he assumed was usually mistaken as a threatening stance.